November 5, 2004

Spread Offense Gives Forwards Key Roles

By | November 5, 2004

As head coach Steve Donahue and his squad approach this season, several statistics linger over their heads — reminders of a strong start and soured finish that may help motivate the cagers to higher ground this season. A 5-0 league start and stellar performances by Ka’Ron Barnes ’04 riled hopes of an Ivy League crown and possible NCAA tournament berth, but the team subsequently lost seven of eight Ivy contests and finished 11-16 overall.

Those wins and losses were a team effort, but a lack of clutch offense failed to boost the Red to victory in its closest games, seven of which were decided by five points or fewer. Entering this year, the squad knows it must continue to stand strong defensively but also concentrate on finding the net more frequently.

Forwards Lenny Collins, Jason Mitchell, and Ryan Rourke will play an integral role in helping the offense achieve that goal.

In particular, Donahue hopes to spread the ball around, instead of relying primarily on Barnes to carry the burden.

“I don’t necessarily believe in trying to get one guy to be the guy all the time,” he said. “From the end of last season, I said we’re not playing like that, we’re not relying on that.”

Collins, a versatile junior who started all 27 games last season, looks to be one player who will benefit from the more diverse scheme. In his sophomore campaign, he was third on the team in scoring, with 279 points, second in free throw percentage (80.4), and third in offensive rebounds (36).

“I think now that the presence of Ka’Ron is gone, that’s a great opportunity for Lenny to step up and really make a huge jump of his play,” Donahue said. “He’s shown he’s a pretty good player in this league. I want him to be one of the best players in this league every single night. Every night, I’m going to need him to be a consistent 15, 20-point game guy.”

Though an upperclassmen, junior Ryan Rourke is a newcomer to the team who should make an immediate impact on the scoreboard — in terms of points made and prevented. The 6-8 transfer from Mesa Community College (Ariz.) was an honorable mention National Junior College Athletic Association All-American as a sophomore and averaged 17.1 points per game. With two years of eligibility at Cornell, Rourke will use this season to perfect his game in a new program. Donahue has high expectations.

“He’s our most talented guy at the spot, and he’s an experienced player. He’s not experienced in our system, but he’s played great competition in great leagues,” he said. “He’s got guard skills at 6-8, so he can guard people who are bigger, yet he can play away from the basket. He’s got good athleticism, a good sense of how to play.”

With that background and instinct, Rourke may compete for a starting role. At the very least, he and Collins will both see considerable playing time.

“I’ve always believed that practice matters and no one’s given a starting spot, and they’re earning that over the next six weeks,” Donahue said. “Obviously guys who’ve held those positions…would have a great opportunity to start again. But guys have to believe that when they come in every day, they have a chance to earn a starting spot.”

Though he may not land the number-one job this season, Mitchell, a sophomore, is the only other returning forward on the Red’s roster. In his rookie season, the Saluda, S.C. native played 82 minutes, scoring 15 points. Donahue expects the youngest of the trio to see more time this winter, though primarily at the four-spot, instead of the three.

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ByNovember 8, 2004

While it was senior night at Berman Field on Saturday, a sophomore from the opposing team stole the show, as the Red (1-13-1, 0-5-1 Ivy) fell, 1-0, to Dartmouth (6-3-6, 4-0-2 Ivy) in its last home game of the season. Green sophomore Mark Limpert, who was named Ivy League Player of the Week a week ago for hitting a game-winning goal against Harvard, struck again in the second half, giving Dartmouth at least a share of the Ivy League title. Even though the result did not go in its favor, the Red dominated for large stretches of the game and made it difficult for the league-leading Green. “I thought we played great,” said senior midfielder/forward Steve Reuter. “I think that everyone worked as hard as they could and we played good soccer and we did it for 90 minutes. They just happened to get a pretty lucky goal and that’s the way the game goes sometimes.” The match was physical from the get-go as both teams attempted to get a foothold on the game. Senior tri-captain goalkeeper David Mahoney was not forced to make a save in the half, as the Red won seven corner kicks during the first 45 minutes. In the 30th minute, Cornell generated a strong scoring opportunity when junior forward Kuda Wekwete was able to get his head onto a ball played into the box. However, Wekwete’s attempt went across the face of goal and past the left post. During the last ten minutes of the first half, the Red put three opportunities over the bar. After freshman midfielder Jarid Siegel found space on the left and blasted a shot which missed high and wide, junior midfielder Andrew George had the Red’s best chance with a shot from just inside the penalty box with over a minute left in the half. George’s shot however, was deflected by a Green player and over the crossbar. On the ensuing corner kick, senior tri-captain defender Peter Lynch had a similar opportunity, but his attempt also went high. “I thought that our performance in the first half was very good,” said head coach Bryan Scales. “[Dartmouth] had to win this game, and we always felt if we were able to keep it tight for the first half, that they would start to get frustrated and start playing a little tighter.” The Red’s missed opportunities would come back to haunt it seven minutes into the second half. As Dartmouth started to jockey for possession, freshman Michael Ordonez drove a ball into Cornell’s penalty box. Limpert was able to get a foot on the ball and deflected it into the left corner of Mahoney’s net. “[After Dartmouth scored], I didn’t think the game really changed, but they took a deep breath and we had to continue to press and get the equalizer,” Scales said. Cornell was almost able to strike back immediately through junior midfielder Pape Seye, but his header attempt from a corner was saved by Green goalkeeper Rowan Anders. Limpert could have doubled Dartmouth’s lead in the 65th after driving past Red defenders, but his shot was saved by Mahoney. “I thought we played well defensively,” Mahoney said. “The only thing they had were long balls going over the top … A couple of times, they got services in and one of them, they got lucky on it.” Prior to the game, five seniors were recognized for their service to Cornell soccer. While the team faced a difficult season this year, Scales said that he was proud about how his team came out to compete and noted the seniors’ performances were “right on the money.” “It’s a tough way to go out with a loss like that, especially when we deserved to win, but I’ve never been as proud as I was to play on a field tonight with those guys,” Reuter said. Archived article by Brian TsaoSun Senior Editor

ByNovember 8, 2004

Despite apparent invincibility over the past few weeks, the volleyball team (17-7, 9-3 Ivy) slipped a little this weekend after a 3-0 loss to Penn (14-9, 6-5) on Friday. The Red bounced back on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Princeton (16-7, 7-4) after a complete turnaround performance in which the Red broke three school records. Even with sophomore Liz Bishop putting up yet another double-double that included 24 kills and 14 digs, the Red was not able to overcome an excellent Quaker effort. Penn had contributions from all ends, although Michelle Kaufmann played particularly well, putting up 10 kills and a .226 hitting percentage. Kaufmann accounted for 12.0 points, the most of any Quaker. “Liz hit well on Friday,” explained head coach Deitre Collins. “[But] we really struggled. Things really were just not clicking on Friday.” Penn showed incredible resilience considering its Ivy League record. The Quakers managed to hold on and edge out each of the first two games, 30-28 and 32-30, and then came out very strongly in Game 3 for a 30-24 win. The Red responded well on Saturday, sticking it to Princeton with a 3-1 victory. Cornell was propelled by a highest-ever 83 attempts by Bishop and sophomore Katie Rademacher’s record 16 total blocks and 15 block assists. “On Saturday, our backs were against the wall,” Collins said, “and we came out from the very beginning and played well the entire match.” Although the four games between the two squads were not all Cornell blowouts at 30-25, 30-21, 29-31, and 30-25, the Red absolutely dominated in statistics away from the score sheet. Cornell led in essentially every category, including kills (73-57), hitting percentage (.253-.117), digs (83-78), blocks (20-6), and aces (5-3). Four Cornell players put up double digits in kills to greatly hinder the Tigers’ opportunity to establish any kind of offense. In addition, junior Whitney Fair put up a career-high 64 assists in the Red’s strong performance. When asked about her team’s remarkable resilience seen time and time again this season, Collins replied, “I’ve seen my team play some incredible matches. Nothing can take that away.” The split weekend again leaves the Red tied for first in the Ivy League with rival Harvard, which had a split weekend itself. The Crimson barely eked a win out over Brown on Friday and then was swept by Yale on Saturday. The Red will meet both of these teams next weekend, which will determine who takes first place in the Ivy League. “It’s icing on the cake to win the league, but I will not walk away from this [season] disappointed,” Collins said. Archived article by Mike PandolfiniSun Staff Writer